Calvin Opens New Tennis And Track Center

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GRAND RAPIDS — In late August, Calvin College will open for limited use its new Huizenga Tennis and Track Center, the first completed component of the college's $50 million re-envisioned athletic facility: the Spoelhof Fieldhouse Complex.

According to a news release, Glen Van Andel, who retired from Calvin’s department of health, physical education, recreation, dance and sport this past year, leads the committee planning the field house complex. He said the Huizenga Center will make a critical contribution to changing the recreational culture on Calvin's campus.

The $6 million tennis and track venue will house a 200-meter track that wraps around four competition tennis courts. The facility will also feature two long-jump pits and two pole vault boxes or pits.

"Prior to this, we've not had a facility where students can jog and train indoors," said Van Andel. That will be an advantage, said Van Andel, when the weather turns less than clement.

Both the track and the tennis courts will be surfaced with Beynon BSS 1000 Sport Surface, a rubberized material, which will be installed in late December or January. Until then, Calvin volleyball and basketball teams will be competing on portable basketball floors.

Two other components of the field house complex, the Van Noord Arena and Fitness Center and the Venema Aquatic Center, are scheduled to open the first week of January.

Though the new facility will have multiple uses and benefits, the lead donor, Marian Huizenga, was particularly attracted to one aspect of the project, said Bob Berkhof, senior associate to the president.

"The story of bringing together Marian Huizenga and the tennis and track center is a special one," said Berkhof. "When we were talking to her about contributing to the Campaign for Calvin College, she mentioned that she had met her husband, Clarence, who is now deceased, on a tennis court on the old Franklin campus. Because her husband really loved the game of tennis, Marian liked the idea of naming the facility in his honor."

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